VIVO Media Arts Centre Archive > Gladys Hilland

Gladys Hilland

Gladys Lillian nee Birchard (1915-2003) was born on the family homestead in Dunkirk, Saskatchewan, near Moose Jaw. The Birchards were descended from Welsh Quakers; at least three generations had farmed in Ontario and the US. Her parents moved to Dunkirk from Pickering by 1911 and raised ten children. In the ’30’s Gladys and brother Ivan joined the Farmer’s Unity League fighting farm foreclosures. (Ivan’s name appears in a 1934 RCMP secret report on “Revolutionary Organizations and Agitators”). By 1941, Gladys married Gordon Shunaman and moved to Vancouver. Gordon did not work due to poor health. Gladys supported them with a variety of  menial jobs before working at Sitka Spruce, organizing workers, and rising to Secretary-Treasurer of the I.W.A. local. Gordon died in 1946. In 1948 Gladys split with the I.W.A. and married Harold Hilland (1925-1986). They moved to the Fraser Valley where they raised four children. Gladys operated a rest home for a time before retiring.

Audio Interview [1979]

Description

Hilland discusses the Farmrs Unity League, and organization of farmers allied with the Workers Unity League; her work in Vancouver as a waitress and domestic; being one of the first women hired at B.C. Forest Products sawmill, piling lumber and as a sawyer; unionizing the plant; arguing for workers to leave the company union and join the International Woodworkers Association (IWA); her job as Secretary-Treasurer of IWA Local 1-217 until the split in 1948 organizing for the union, speaking to IWA workers and helping them organize the plants; the 1946 march to Victoria during the Longshore strike; lobbying efforts in Victoria; Cold War hostility towards the Labour Progressive Party (LPP) leadership; the draining of dues into the International that led to a breakaway formation of the Woodworkers Industrial Union of Canada (WIUC); fighting as an IWA officer for the payment for workers according to the job performed, not according to race or sex; her union experience confirming a belief that women were competent at all physical and intellectual work.

Transcription

Full transcriptione: Hilland, Gladys

More Information

Title: [Gladys Hilland – 1/4]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Hilland, Gladys

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: OBJ_634_sideA_01

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: Simon Fraser University Archives. Sara Diamond fonds

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

More Information

Title: [Gladys Hilland – 2/4]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Hilland, Gladys

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: OBJ_634_sideB-01

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: Simon Fraser University Archives. Sara Diamond fonds

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

More Information

Title: [Gladys Hilland – 3/4]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Hilland, Gladys

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: OBJ_635_sideA_01

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: Simon Fraser University Archives. Sara Diamond fonds

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

More Information

Title: [Gladys Hilland – 4/4]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Hilland, Gladys

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: OBJ_635_sideB_01

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: Simon Fraser University Archives. Sara Diamond fonds

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Video Interview 1987

[Gladys Hilland - 1/5]

Description: Gladys Hilland discusses her early life on a farm in Dunkirk, Saskatchewan, including the work she did on the farm, unionization amongst farmers during the Great Depression. She discusses the Farmer’s Unity League, her brother’s involvement with the organization, and the impression it made on her. She also discusses her move to Vancouver, and her work as a domestic.

More Information

Title: [Gladys Hilland – 1/5]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Hilland, Gladys ; Marlowe, Kellie

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1987-09-14

Type: Moving Image

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 3/4 inch videotape: U-matic

Format: video/mp4

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_083

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Videos provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these videos must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

[Gladys Hilland - 2/5]

Description: Gladys Hilland discusses the different jobs she held, including agricultural work, hotel and restaurant work, and retail work at the Bay. She also discusses how she got into work at the Sitka Spruce sawmill, her relationship with the men at the mill, the training she received, and the union drive at the mill.

More Information

Title: [Hilland, Gladys – 2/5]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Hilland, Gladys

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1987-09-14

Type: Moving Image

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 3/4 inch videotape: U-matic

Format: video/mp4

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_362

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Videos provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these videos must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

[Gladys Hilland - 3/5]

Description: Gladys Hilland discusses how she became involved in the union, methods for organizing, and men’s reactions to women in union organization.

More Information

Title: [Gladys Hilland – 3/5]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Hilland, Gladys ; Marlowe, Kellie

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1987-09-14

Type: Moving Image

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 3/4 inch videotape: U-matic

Format: video/mp4

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_084

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Videos provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these videos must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

[Gladys Hilland - 4/5]

Description: Gladys Hilland discusses the position and activity of women in the union, and the exodus of women from industry after World War II. She discusses the wage freeze and the strike of 1946, as well as the structure of the union and the ways decisions were made within it. Finally, she discusses McCarthyism and tension within the union during the postwar period.

More Information

Title: [Gladys Hilland – 4/5]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Hilland, Gladys ; Marlowe, Kellie

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1987-09-14

Type: Moving Image

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 3/4 inch videotape: U-matic

Format: video/mp4

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_085

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Videos provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these videos must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

[Gladys Hilland - 5/5]

Description: Gladys Hilland discusses struggles over leadership within the International Woodworkers of America (IWA), the Canadian unions’ break with the international, the consequences of this break, and her own role within it. She also discusses federal legislation’s impact on union organizing, the No Strike Pledge, the war effort, and unionism as a political issue.

More Information

Title: [Gladys Hilland – 5/5]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Hilland, Gladys ; Marlowe, Kellie

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1987-09-14

Type: Moving Image

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 3/4 inch videotape: U-matic

Format: video/mp4

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_086

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Videos provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use these videos must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.